Time Out of Mind
by T. Costa
Summary: Set 15 and 16 years after DoC. Fifteen years ago, Vincent left Yuffie. She's married and has children now, and circumstances bring them back together. How can Vincent, the eternal loner, deal with it? Oneshot, Yuffentine. Happy birthday, Vincent.


**Time out of Mind**

_I can see why you think you belong to me  
I never tried to make you think or let you see one thing for yourself  
But now you're off with someone else, and I'm alone  
You see, I thought that I might keep you for my own..._

-- Pure Prairie League, _Amie_

If someone looked very closely, they might see a hint of the old Wutai princess in the girl. For sure, she looked similar, despite having longer hair and a more mature face and figure. The resemblance was there.

But her formerly mobile face, where the younger princess had worn her emotions on her sleeve, was a carefully controlled caricature of her former self. Only those who had been very, very close to her in her youth would see the difference. That is to say, only a few people.

Her face, which had grown from a childish cuteness to one that was downright beautiful – a generous blessing of the right features from the correct ancestors – never showed anything that the woman didn't want anyone to see.

So all the world saw when they looked at her was happiness, or pride, or whatever emotion was supposed to be flowing from her. The only way people might be able to tell the difference was her eyes, the one place her husband had been careful to not look at all these years. That she was able to pretend to love him was enough; he couldn't ask that she really do so.

So Yuffie Kisaragi-Shinra feigned happiness. To be sure, she was content; she had all of the material possessions she could ever need, a husband who practically worshiped her, and two beautiful half-Wutaian children who adored her. But happiness would never be quite possible.

The closest she came was when they had sex. She couldn't in all honestly call it making love, because she didn't love him, but he touched her the way..._he_ had, all those years ago. She always exerted the control she had for all of these years, careful to never call out _his_ name and instead use Rufus'.

It was something of a half life. There were moments, usually when her children accomplished something, when she felt the vestiges of happiness, and a real smile alighted her face, and even touched her eyes. But she never felt that sense of completeness that someone who has found happiness felt, and the sad thing was that she knew she never would. She could trace it back to one particular day, and often did, letting the scene replay in her mind when she was busy smiling at some function.

It had been a huge deal when the announcement of the impending marriage of Yuffie Kisaragi and Rufus Shinra had broke the news outlets. Of course, there was a treaty with Wutai, and reparations made, but Rufus genuinely had fallen in love with her somewhere along the line, and those things were simply because he knew they'd entice her away from Wutai.

And because the man she really did love had denied her all those years ago, she smiled and went with the man who she knew loved her. Wutai was whole again and he was happy; at least some good came out of this precarious arrangement. She'd spent the last 15 years making sure he stayed happy.

Rufus whooped next to her; her son had just scored a point at the basketball game they were attending. He was 15 now and had managed to secure a place on the junior varsity team, despite the fact that he was only a freshman in high school. It was a big deal.

At first Yuffie had been sure it was because of his last name – Shinra. But as she watched, she could see that Kiyoshi, her quiet son who lived up to his name, was in all actuality a very good basketball player; he'd inherited her strength and physical prowess, and his fathers' height.

Her daughter stirred next to her. Nyoko tried very hard to be polite at these games of her brother's, because she knew how much they meant to him, but she was very bored and wanted to go play or read. She, only 12 years old, had a short attention span when it came to sports.

"You could have brought a book, Nee." Yuffie whispered to her.

"I don't want 'Yoshi to think I'm not interested." She whispered back. Yuffie felt a great upwelling in pride at her younger daughter; the love between the siblings was not feigned. Nyoko constantly lived up to her name, as well – she was a treasure to have.

"But you're not interested." She said, pulling her daughter closer with an arm around her shoulder.

"But he wants me to be." Nyoko replied. "He says I'm his good luck charm."

Yuffie smiled. Her children brought her so close to happiness, with their precocity and innocence, that they made this whole charade worth it. "You know, good luck charms just have to be there. They don't have to pay attention."

"But I wanna pay attention to 'Yoshi." Nyoko said, aghast. "I love him."

Yuffie's smile deepened and she returned her attention to the game, keeping her arm around her daughter's shoulder. "I know, Nee. It's alright."

Her smile dropped as she realized that her daughter was doing the exact same thing she was – sacrificing her happiness for someone else.

"'Nee, promise me you'll tell 'Yoshi that you don't mind being his good luck charm – as long as the good luck charm is allowed to read a book." Yuffie said, seriously, turning to her daughter. "It's not fair to pretend you're interested in basketball just because it makes your brother happy. Never pretend something like that, for anyone. Not even your father and I. Promise?"

Nyoko stared up at her mother. She looked ashamed. "Okay, mama. I promise."

Parents go through life hoping their children will be one up on them when they grow up – it's the reason some parents labor away all their lives to give their children the things they never had, be it nice toys, a new car, or a college trust fund. In Yuffie's case, they already had all of the money and things and trust funds they could desire – after all, she was a princess and Rufus president of a worldwide conglomerate. So she made sure her children would never have her fate, living a lie.

And if she never had to see her fake smile plastered on her daughter's face, she could die content.

**- - - - - **

They never had been able to find him. As far as he knew, they all thought him dead. He knew better.

He had aged, of course, but not as much as his compatriots. His aging was a slow process, as if his body was still getting used to the idea. He could see them, gathered there for their annual anniversary party, when Tifa would close down the bar and they'd celebrate the formation of AVALANCHE that had brought all of them together.

The parties had gotten steadily larger as the members of the group paired off, married, and had children. Everyone had a family, even Barret. Except for him.

Vincent had always come to the party. He'd never attended, however, preferring to watch, hidden, as his old friends made merry and assumed he'd passed on. This time, he'd propped himself up in a dark tree and was gazing down a sunlight in the roof of the bar. If one looked directly up, they might see him, but he'd dispatched of the crimson cloak that night, and his pale face was hidden by his black hair, which fell in front of his face in clumps.

"Sorry we're late." A familiar voice said. Yuffie entered the room, with her family in tow. He still had problems thinking of that – Yuffie, 36 years old, with two children and a husband. The idea tore a hole in his heart, but it was infinitely better off that she'd settled down with Rufus rather than chase Vincent around.

She'd looked, he knew. After he'd left her. She'd looked in all of his old haunts – Shinra Manor, the cave. And he'd known she'd look, so he hid in the one place he knew she wouldn't look. Wutai.

It was just a cave, but it was like home. He'd managed to make it fairly comfortable, and it took a special kind of chocobo to get to the place, if you weren't a genetic freak like Vincent Valentine. He had never been discovered.

Every year they gathered on the anniversary of Aeris' death and celebrated that they, at least, had survived. Every year they'd had a picture of Aeris, and after it became apparent that he was not going to show his face, they'd began assuming he was dead, as well. There was no picture of him, because the one that he knew to be in existence was blurred – he'd deliberately hidden in the shadows during that group photo. Instead, someone had drawn a Cerberus sigil on a piece of paper.

How...amusing. He looked at the battered sign hanging from the butt of his gun.

His hearing, which along with his smell and sense of taste had been enhanced by Hojo all those years ago, picked up the conversation as clearly as if it was being spoken at his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, we may've started late, but it was worth it." Cid was saying, smiling at his wife and then taking in his children, now teenagers. Vincent felt a pang, knowing he'd never have that happiness. The first woman he'd loved had killed herself, and the second had married someone else – at his insistence, even.

He really was a glutton for punishment. But back in those days, it had seemed the better option. Vincent really was too old for Yuffie, and too much a monster.

Nowadays those thoughts plagued him less and less. He figured he was just getting older; his gauntlet, the last vestiges from the demons that had lingered within his mind, was gone, lost to the ravages of time. When he'd worn a tight, constricting leather body suit in the past, he wore a simple long-sleeved button-up shirt and a pair of slacks now, with a simple waist-holster for the Cerberus. His vicious pointed metal boot armor had also gone the way of the gauntlet; Vincent Valentine almost looked...normal.

True, he was clothed all in black; even the band that he wrapped around his hair was black, now. But that was not in itself unusual. And his cloak and the red hair band were both at home, which would make him look more...himself. But yes, Vincent almost looked like anyone you'd meet on the street.

He watched the party; the children went off to play by themselves. Yuffie's children, who had inherited her good looks, were, if he counted correctly, 15 and 12 now. It was obvious they adored each other.

"'Yoshi, mama made me promise to tell you." The little girl – Nyoko – said. She was nervous. "I don't really like basketball, I just like going because you like me to be there."

Kiyoshi laughed, an easy laugh, and dropped his arm around his little sister's shoulders. "That's alright, Nee. It means a lot that you'd come anyway." They sat there for a while longer, discussing school and other things. Then Nyoko looked around and whispered, softly so that Vincent, even, could barely hear her.

"Let's go outside real quick." She said. "I wanna show you something."

The two of them snuck out – Vincent got the idea that they'd snuck out of places in the past. They were, of course, related to Yuffie, who was a master of sneaking.

Vincent was very quiet as he shifted to hide from the pair, who were settling under his tree. He kept an eye on them, however; it wouldn't do for Yuffie's children to be kidnapped or otherwise hurt.

"I found this in mama's drawer." Nyoko said, hushedly. She handed it to Kiyoshi. "I think it's that man she used to tell us stories about when we were little."

"You're still little, Nee." Kiyoshi said, absently. He was staring at a piece of paper. "So this is Vincent Valentine."

Vincent froze.

"I think he's handsome." Nyoko said, smiling. "No wonder mama loved him back then."

Kiyoshi shook his head, slowly. "Nee, you don't love someone because they're handsome. You love them because of who they are."

"Right. And part of him was, he was handsome." Nyoko smirked. "Anyway, I'd always wondered what he looked like – but he just kinda looks like a Vincent Valentine. The name fits."

"I wonder where he is." Kiyoshi said. "Everyone in there thinks he's dead, but Mom doesn't. If she did, she'd have given them this picture to blow up and put with the flower girl's."

Nyoko was silent for a while, then she spoke, slowly.

"'Yoshi, do you ever think that...mama still loves him?" She whispered.

"Of course she does, it's her first love." Kiyoshi rolled his eyes. "You never forget your first love."

"No, I mean..." Nyoko swallowed. "I mean, if she still loves him...instead of Dad."

Both of them were silent for a long while.

"We'll never know, I guess." Kiyoshi said. He smiled at Nyoko. "Go inside, Nee. I'm gonna sit out here for a while, and it's cold." He patted his little sister's head and she looked at him, adoringly. She went inside.

Kiyoshi sat below the tree and withdrew the picture, which Nyoko didn't realize he even still had. It seemed Kiyoshi had his mother's thieving skills down pat.

"Vincent Valentine." He said, quietly. He shook his head. "So this is my father."

He heard a sudden crack behind him and glanced up; just a breaking branch, it seemed, because he couldn't see anything within the tree. He sighed and looked back down at the picture.

"I wonder what happened to you...?"

**- - - - - **

"Mama, I can't find Kiyoshi!" Nyoko said, tugging on her mother's hand. It had been hours since she went out with him and now he was gone. "I can't find him! He's gone!"

"What?" Yuffie turned to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, mama." Tears were leaking down the little girl's face. "I found the picture in your drawer and I wanted to show it to him and now he's gone because we went outside like we're not supposed to!" It was one gigantic sentence, said in her haste to apologize to her mother.

Yuffie's heart stopped.

"Kiyoshi isn't outside?" She said, quietly to her daughter. Her son was missing, and in possession of her only picture of Vincent Valentine, his real father.

It wasn't a scandal – Rufus had known she was pregnant with Vincent's child when he married her. It was the reason he'd done it so quickly, so that there _wouldn't_ be a scandal. He was a wonderful man like that; for the millionth time she wished she could just love him back to repay him for his kindness.

Yuffie inhaled, just as there was a tinkling of broken glass. A rock had been thrown through the window, and in the most cliché manner possible, it had a note tied to it.

Yuffie stooped to pick it up.

After reading it, she let loose with a shaky breath. "Kiyoshi has been kidnapped." She tried to keep her tone steady.

"What?" Rufus strode over and read the note. He was a pale person by nature, but the blood literally drained out of his face, making him look like a ghost. He knew that Kiyoshi wasn't his son, but he still loved the child as if he was his own. His reaction was that of a parent.

"By who?" Tifa exclaimed. A mother herself, she knew this was a parent's worst nightmare.

"Some anti-Shinra group." Yuffie said. Tears were falling down her face, silently, as she reread the letter. "They're demanding a cutback on WRO squads in Mideel and aid to the people there in exchange for him."

"But the WRO squads are there to distribute the aid!" Reeve said.

"According to this, the squads have been...less than honest." Rufus said. He was obviously upset, not only because of his assumed son's kidnapping, but because of a breakdown of the trust he placed in his people. "Eight years we've had people there...I wonder how long it's been like this." He held up a picture, attached with the letter. It showed Mideel. There were listless, homeless people wandering the planks that had been built over the Lifestream, and healthy looking WRO squad members with guns. It looked like the WRO squads were on break.

"Damn." Reeve swore. "I knew we should have gone down there last year to check up on it..."

"They also demand...fifteen million gil in reparations." Rufus said. He looked at Reeve. "You'll take care of the WRO and aid?" He put his arm around Yuffie, who was outright crying now. Tifa had come to her side and was trying to console her.

Reeve nodded.

"Better do it fast." Yuffie said, hiccuping. "They said...they'll kill him if we don't respond in eight hours."

**- - - - - **

Kiyoshi's head ached.

He opened his eyes. That didn't really do anything, as he'd been bound, gagged, and blindfolded. He was laying on a hard floor; it was cool to the touch if he moved, but the spot he'd been laying on had absorbed quite a bit of his body heat. It was warmer.

That told him he'd been there for a while. Cautiously, he tested his bindings. They were tight, and he internally swore. His mother had once told him to pay attention to those rope escape classes, and of course he hadn't.

He lay there for what felt like hours, aching from being in the same position for so long. His arms were bound behind his back, and that was not comfortable – at all.

There was a slight commotion and then someone – quietly, trying to be undetected – walked into the room. Unfortunately for them, Kiyoshi had been trained in his mother's ninja arts and heard him.

Kiyoshi tensed. There was a pause, as the person stood over him, and then his bindings were cut off of him.

Before anyone could stop him, he ripped the blindfold off his face and tore the gag to his neck. He was on his feet in an instant.

"...Just like your mother." A deep voice said. "I've knocked the guards out. You can leave now."

"Where the hell am I?" Kiyoshi asked. "Who are you?"

There was a slight chuckle and the figure melted into the shadows.

"Wait!" He tried to follow the man, but he'd already disappeared.

There was a noise outside, and Kiyoshi ducked down, peering out the window that was set into the door of the room. The guards had indeed been knocked out, but one of the burlier ones was waking up.

The guard swore and stood up, heading directly for where Kiyoshi was. Kiyoshi, being the spawn of ninja, had an edge here, and that edge was his slight frame and his upbringing. He jumped out of sight, behind some boxes.

"Damnit!" The guard swore, entering the room. "The kid's gone!" He stormed out and began making noises outside, obviously trying to wake his companions.

"Fuck." Kiyoshi muttered. He was in way over his head, and he understood now why his mother and Rufus had insisted for so long that he not wander around alone, without bodyguards. His mind raced. How would he get out of this one in one piece?

A leather-covered hand clamped over his mouth. "Be quiet." The dark voice from earlier said. "And I will get you out alive."

Kiyoshi glared at a spot in front of him until the gloved hand removed itself from his mouth. Then he turned to face the unseen helper.

It was dark and dim, but the face was unmistakable. He'd been staring at a picture of it not four hours earlier.

"V-Vincent Valentine?" He asked, in shock. An elegant eyebrow raised, and that was enough to still his mouth.

Kiyoshi gulped and nodded acquiescence to the enforced quiet. Vincent pointed upward; an air duct. They never checked the damn air ducts.

Their loss; Kiyoshi and Vincent's gain. Vincent gave the boy a boost upward. He listened to see if the noise hadn't alerted anyone, and then jumped straight up, landing in a crouch in the small duct. Carefully, he replaced the grating.

Vincent maneuvered around Kiyoshi and then gestured – _follow me_. Then Vincent put his finger over his lips – _quietly_. Kiyoshi nodded understanding of both gestures, and followed Vincent, carefully testing his weight at every step. His ninja training came in handy here – Kiyoshi could be dead silent when he wanted to be.

They traveled for what felt like forever – Kiyoshi wondered if the man in front of him even knew where the fuck they were. But apparently he did, because eventually they dropped into a room almost identical to the one they'd left, with one difference; it was empty, and the guards were not there.

Vincent regarded the younger man. He had intended on preventing the kidnapping entirely, of course, but the leader of the group had put a gun to Kiyoshi's head, and Vincent thought it best to kidnap him back when the time was right. That...and the idea of facing the group inside of Tifa's bar terrified him.

He looked as if he were going to speak when suddenly, a chopping sound and lights were everywhere. Kiyoshi recognized it. It was a Shinra-issue helicopter.

A voice boomed around him. "The aid has been rendered. Give me my son!"

Vincent's face turned into a grimace, and Kiyoshi knew that hearing Yuffie's voice after all these years pained the older man.

"We are on the second floor." He said, quietly. "There is no easy way downstairs from here. Hold on."

Before Kiyoshi could protest, Vincent had slung his arm about his waist and was running toward the window. Shielding the boy – his son – with his body, he launched them out the glass. It shattered on impact with his hard body. They were falling.

Vincent rolled as they hit the ground, taking the majority of the impact and setting a dazed Kiyoshi on the ground before dashing away.

"'Yoshi?" The helicopter landed and his mother was running toward him; he still sat on the ground, dazed.

"'Yoshi!" His beautiful mother...her makeup was running, tears were streaming down her face. She dropped beside him and her arms went around him. "Oh, 'Yoshi. I was so afraid..."

He hugged his mother back. His ordeal hadn't been even the least bit traumatic to him, but he knew it had been for his mother. He patted her back.

"What in the world made you decide to jump out a window, young man?" She demanded, pulling away from him and holding him by the shoulders. She was angry and happy and sad and distressed and it bothered him to see his normally composed mother like that.

"I didn't. He did." Kiyoshi said. He looked around. "Well, he's not here anymore."

"Who?" Yuffie's eyes were daggers; she was going to murder whoever had put her son in such danger.

Kiyoshi looked guilty and dug in his pocket. Before the others came over he wanted to deliver the blow. He handed her the picture.

"Him." He said, quietly. Yuffie's face was, for the first time in years, a completely open book – she was shocked, and hurt.

"...Vincent...?" She whispered, looking at the picture and touching it softly. She looked up to Kiyoshi.

Kiyoshi nodded. He knew, absolutely knew, without asking, that the man she had married, his pseudo-father, was not the man she loved. He knew by the way she said Vincent's voice, irreverently, as if he was a god of some sort.

"He's alive?"

The voice came from behind Yuffie; it was Rufus. His voice sounded pained.

Yuffie turned toward Rufus, agony written on her beautiful features.

A spray of gunfire came out of the building; the kidnappers had seen what happened and well, they were pissed.

"Shinra scum!" The burly guard from before was screaming and shooting some sort of automatic assault weapon. Kiyoshi ducked down and got to his feet.

One blast of gunfire from the opposite direction; it was the distinctive tone of the triple-barreled Cerberus that Yuffie could recognize, even all these years later. She'd been next to it for a good chunk of her youth.

The burly guard disappeared, and more took his place. She covered her son's body with hers and began to lead him toward the helicopter; Rufus drew his pistol and began firing in earnest.

Yuffie got her son to the safety of the bulletproof beast of a 'copter and turned; she could see him. Even all these years later, and dressed in only black, she could still recognize Vincent Valentine. He was standing on a tree branch across from the warehouse the kidnappers had been holding Kiyoshi at. He was stock-still; the only movement was the rapid departure of bullets. He didn't spare her a glance.

A strangled sound came from behind her; she turned just in time to see her husband fall over. In his haste to get there and pick up Yuffie's son, he'd forgotten to put on his bulletproof underarmor, and it had cost him his life.

"Rufus!" Yuffie said. Ignoring her own safety, she ran to him; it was the least she could do, after all he'd done for her.

"Yuffie..." He whispered. The shot had gotten him in the belly and severed his spinal cord; he'd be dead in minutes. His hand, bloody, clasped hers tight. A pool of the substance was gathering near his head; a thin stream drained from his mouth.

"Rufus..." She was crying, now, for even though she didn't love Rufus, he was her friend and she didn't want him to die.

"I love you." He whispered. "Now...you can be with Vincent..."

"No!" She screamed. She lay her head down on his chest. "Don't...don't go..."

A low gasp came out of his body and then he was still.

"RUFUS!" She cried, hitting him in the chest. "Come back!"

"Mom..." She whirled around, covered in Rufus' blood, and saw her son, walking toward her. The gunfire had ceased.

Tears were pouring down her face. He sank down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders, and she held him, and cried. She clutched at his clothes, bloodying the T-shirt he was wearing and generally making a mess of things.

"He's gone, mom." He whispered. "He's gone."

**- - - - - **

Rufus's funeral was pretty small, for a president. It consisted of maybe 100 people; the general location, time and place weren't known to the public, because they'd wanted it small.

Yuffie wore black. So did her children.

Nyoko was beside herself in grief. She'd adored her father and felt that it was her fault he'd died – after all, if she hadn't stolen the picture of Vincent and lured her brother outside to see it, they wouldn't have kidnapped 'Yoshi and her father wouldn't have run to his rescue.

"That's silly, Nee." Kiyoshi said. He hugged his little sister. "These people were real determined. They were obviously following us around – they'd have chosen any minute I was alone to come and get me. It could have been while I was going to the bathroom at basketball practice. I mean, come on."

"I know." Nyoko said. She hiccuped. "I miss my daddy."

"I know you do, Nee. I miss him too." Kiyoshi's eyes closed in pain.

The night Rufus had died, Yuffie had gathered her children and explained to Nyoko how Kiyoshi was really her half-brother, but that it didn't mean that they couldn't still love each other the same as they had before. There had been a few hours of denial on the little girl's part, but she eventually accepted it. Now she was careful to make the distinction of "my dad" or "My father" as opposed to "Your father" or "'Yoshi's dad." It frustrated Kiyoshi, if only because Rufus Shinra had been more of a father to him than Vincent Valentine ever would, and he couldn't explain that to his younger sister. It hurt, hearing her make those distinctions.

Yuffie's head was bowed. The pews in the church were uncomfortable, and she wish she'd gone with her original decision to hold the funeral in Aeris' church. The preacher was going on and on about how Rufus had lived a great life with a family who loved him; her heart broke. No, he hadn't. He'd lived a half-life, the same as she, with children who adored them and a wife who couldn't love him. He'd deserved better.

She heard a noise at the back of the church, very quiet. It was a door opening and closing. She turned...

There stood Vincent Valentine. He was wearing his cloak and it seemed outlandish, and yet somehow appropriate, at a funeral. He bowed his head in respect.

She hadn't told anyone in AVALANCHE of her son's confession, that Vincent had rescued him; There were startled gasps throughout the church as Tifa and the others recognized him. He ignored their stares and instead paid attention to the pastor, politely.

After it all, she pointedly ignored him. She didn't want to see him. Not after all these years – not after all of the hurt. If he hadn't gone off and left her high and dry, Rufus wouldn't be dead right now – and he might have had a chance with someone else, someone who would love him back.

She let a humorless laugh out. No, Rufus would never have fallen in love with someone else, the same way she never had.

Vincent left after they buried Rufus. He had refused to talk to anyone. He ignored their questions and comments and focused on the burial and when he was in the ground, Vincent was gone.

"At least we know he's alive." Tifa said, trying to cheer Yuffie up. Yuffie closed her eyes in pain.

It didn't help, knowing Vincent was alive. She knew that her family was suffering; she knew, even moreso, that now they had an entire conglomerate to run and no idea how to do it.

Let Reeve do it. She couldn't. She couldn't take the burden onto her shoulders; not when her youngest daughter missed her father, her oldest son wept for his sister, and the man who should have been there for her had disappeared again. She couldn't.

The phone call was made – of course, they still owned Shinra but Reeve was going to manage it because, she told him, she just couldn't. To Reeve's ears, she sounded exhausted.

"It's alright, Yuffie." He said, softly. "I'll take care of it."

"How is Mideel doing?"

Reeve chuckled. "You almost sound like yourself, Yuffie. They're fine. We've taken care of the problem."

"Good." Yuffie was quiet. "Thanks, Reeve."

The ended the phone call with that and she looked out the window. It was Rufus' office – her office now. She missed him.

**- - - - - **

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Yuffie gasped and turned, clutching her kimono tighter around her. She had been preparing for bed – sleeping felt odd now that Rufus wasn't laying next to her at night – and the voice had come unbidden.

There he stood, Vincent Valentine. She hadn't spoken to him in over 15 years, and she hadn't wanted to start any time soon.

"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" He demanded, coming closer. A glance behind him told her all she needed to know – he'd come in through the window.

"I tried, Vincent." She said, coldly. "But you're too damn good at hiding yourself."

"And so you married Rufus?" Vincent shook his head. "Did he know?"

"Of course he knew. Why do you think he married me?" Yuffie sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "I was scared, Vincent. I was just under 20 years old and I was going to be exiled from Wutai for it. Rufus saved my life."

Vincent was quiet. He sat, contemplating a spot on the wall behind her with a ferocity that almost – but not quite – scared her.

"He was a better man than I." He said, softly. "Your children are beautiful, Yuffie. I am glad that you reproduced. This world needs more happiness in it."

"One of those is your child, too, Vincent. Don't forget that." Yuffie warned him. "Oh, and hey, guess what? He turned out normal. Yeah. So much for your excuses." She was angry now, not that he blamed her in the slightest.

"I was a fool." He acknowledged.

"You're still a fool." She spat out.

Vincent shrugged.

"How did you find out?" She whispered.

Vincent chuckled, something that still sounded odd to her. He turned back toward the window. "I overheard it from...our son."

It was an awkward pause that he'd made. Yuffie sighed and turned away. When she turned back, he had gone.

**- - - - - **

Vincent paid another person a visit that night. His son.

Kiyoshi had finished his homework – he wasn't the type to use his "father's" death as an excuse to get out of schoolwork – and set it aside for the night. When he turned, it startled him to see Vincent Valentine leaning against his windowsill.

"Luckily, you seem to have inherited your mother's good looks." Vincent said.

"Actually, I don't think I look like her at all." Kiyoshi said, looking directly into Vincent's eyes. Vincent looked away.

His son was right. Kiyoshi was like him in miniature, except for the eyes. He had Yuffie's gorgeous gray eyes and it pained him to look him in the face.

His hair was even the same, although it was cut shorter, more aggressive. Kiyoshi looked as Vincent had all those years ago, when he'd met Lucrecia.

"Why are you here?" His demeanor was direct, much like Vincent himself. But he'd never had any contact with the former Turk and Vincent had to assume he'd learned it elsewhere.

"I had...business...with your mother." Vincent said. "A discussion of...things past. I figured it was only right that I come to see...how you are holding up as well."

"You never bothered to before." Kiyoshi said, shrugging. He turned off his computer.

"I didn't know that you existed. The fault lies with me. I apologize." Vincent said. His voice was...sad? Kiyoshi turned toward the older man; he looked mournful.

"Couldn't really be helped." Kiyoshi said. "Excuse me, I have to go tuck my little sister in for the night."

"...'Yoshi?" A little voice said at the door. Both men turned; Nyoko, who looked so like a little Yuffie that Vincent was startled, was looking at them. Her little eyes widened. "Mr. Valentine? What are you doing here?"

Vincent blinked. He hadn't been referred to as Mr. Valentine in ages. It made him feel...old.

"Ah..." He hadn't expected to be quizzed by a 12-year-old Yuffie lookalike. He didn't have an answer; in fact, he wasn't sure why he'd come to see his son in the first place.

Curiosity, perhaps.

"He just wanted to visit." Kiyoshi explained to his younger sister, who he picked up as if she were nothing and held protectively. Vincent could see that they were the best of friends; Kiyoshi adored his little sister and would protect her from anything, including his father if he were a threat.

Luckily, Vincent was not a threat.

"Did you really save my mommy from Deepground soldiers?" Her innocent voice asked. Vincent blinked. "And help save the world? Could you really transform into a nifty demon guy? Did you really fight Omega Weapon?"

"Have I ever lied to you before, Nee?" A tired voice said from the hallway. Yuffie came into view; it was a regular family reunion, and it made Vincent distinctly uncomfortable. She looked at Vincent. "You might as well go out the front door when you leave; no need to be climbing out of windows and risking your life."

"I'm hungry. Can I have a snack before 'Yoshi tucks me in?" Nyoko asked her mother. Yuffie sighed.

"Fine, Nee. Have him make you a sandwich. And you can have one story, but you have to go to school tomorrow."

"I know." Nyoko wrapped her arms around her brother's neck, and his expression softened.

Vincent felt like an intruder on an exceedingly private family moment; the fact that this could have been his family was not lost on him.

Not for the first time, he suffered a pang of regret – for what could have been.

"Can Mr. Valentine tell me a story?" Nyoko asked.

Yuffie gave Vincent an amused, tired sort of look. "I dunno, Nee, Vincent was never much of a storyteller."

"I should leave now." Vincent said. But leaving would mean plowing through that adorable little family unit and he wasn't ready to come into contact with any of them yet.

Or perhaps ever.

Yuffie raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. How she'd picked up his habit was beyond him; in fact, it was one thing she'd always harassed him about aboard the Highwind when they were chasing Sephiroth. He could remember very clearly her asking "Teach me, Vinnie! Teach me how to raise my eyebrow! I wanna be a Vulcan, too!"

To which he had invariably raised his eyebrow, infuriating her.

Really, it was no wonder he'd fallen in love with her all those years ago. She'd been so full of life. And now...

He felt a stabbing sensation in his leg and looked down.

"Sunny only does that to people he likes." Nyoko said. An overlarge cat, Siamese by the looks of him, with small, pointed ears and gray coloring fading into white on his chest and belly, was standing at Vincent's feet, clawing at him.

Well, kneading at him. The cat had propped itself up on his hind legs and was reaching upward with it's paws, sinking it's claws into his legs.

"...Sunny?"

"He came with the name." Kiyoshi said handing his sister to Yuffie and scooping the cat up, against feline protests. "He was a pound kitty." The cat obviously belonged to his son.

It amused him to some extent. Vincent had never had a pet, but when he'd been a Turk he had ...made friends with one of the neighborhood strays. He'd always had a bit of a fondness for felines.

Yuffie was guaging his reactions, he noticed. She was looking at him intently, wondering how he was reacting to her family, to his son. The son he thought he couldn't have.

Actually, all three of them were watching him. Four, if you counted the cat, who was purring contentedly in Kiyoshi's arms, but still regarding Vincent through half-closed eyes. It made him decidedly nervous, and he cleared his throat.

"Let's go downstairs, then." Yuffie said, suddenly, to her daughter. "A sandwich sounds good right now." She turned and began walking down the hall.

"You may as well come, downstairs is where the door is." Kiyoshi said, looking at him. He let his cat down and followed the remainder of his family.

Vincent, being the anti-social person he was, strongly considered going out the window anyway. This visit hadn't turned out the way he'd envisioned it in his mind.

The cat stood in the doorway and looked at him. "Mrow?" It asked, reasonably.

Vincent sighed and followed the family downstairs. The cat walked beside him companionably.

Yuffie offered him food or drink; he declined politely and headed for the door.

"So that's it?" She asked, quietly as the kids headed up the stairs, to bed. "You pop in, visit, and you're gone?"

"It's probably for the best...Yuffie." Vincent replied. He turned to her. "I am sorry that I caused you so much grief, and your children."

Both her eyebrows were raised now. "You know, Vincent, I can understand that after all of these years you don't care about me, but I think 'Yoshi has a right to know what kind of man his father is – other than the kind that ditches his mother."

Vincent winced.

"He's a lot like you." She said softly. "Except, you know, he's not all emo and stuck in the past."

He raised his eyes to hers. "If I were the sort of person worth knowing, Yuffie, I would be more than happy to be a figure in his life. But I'm not."

"Well, that's not really for you to decide." Yuffie crossed her arms. "I want you to visit him. Not every day, but something to show you give a shit. He grew up knowing that Rufus wasn't his father, that you had abandoned me. It'd be a nice change of pace for him to respect his father."

"Yuffie, he may share my genes, but I think that Rufus was probably more of a father...to him, than I ever could be." He sighed and reached up, rubbing his temples.

"Where'd your claw go?" Yuffie asked. It was such a normal Yuffie switch of discussion that Vincent, for a second, thought they were back 15 years ago.

"I lost it." He said, shrugging.

Yuffie looked at him for a moment. His stomach chose then to rumble.

She sighed. "Come on, then. At least let me make you a sandwich for the road, if you're going to insist on taking off."

Without waiting for his answer she turned and walked into the kitchen. He followed her.

She was spreading mayonnaise and mustard onto bread slices when she asked.

"Was it really so bad, Vince?" It was a murmur. "Was it so bad being with me that you just had to take off?"

Vincent stared at her.

"I mean, was I that horrible of a ..well, I was never really your girlfriend. A partner, I guess." Yuffie gave a hollow laugh. "Granted, you took off. So I guess I have my answer." She was hunched over the cutting board, assembling him a sandwich, and he knew she had that look on her face, the look he had always hated. The one where she was telling herself she was a horrible person, a bad daughter, or a selfish lover.

"Yuffie..." She wouldn't look at him; some things never changed. "It had nothing to do with you." He snorted. "Okay, it did have something to do with you. You...were a beautiful, young, happy woman. I couldn't take that from you. I couldn't curse you with me." She turned toward him. "Being...with you was the happiest I had been in my life. But I don't deserve that kind of happiness, not with you. Not from someone who could have gone on and done so much better..."

"Oh, yes. I did great." Yuffie said, sarcastically. She turned back to the sandwich. "I married a man I didn't love because he loved me and was willing to take the blame for your problems. I spent 15 years pretending I was happy, to the whole world. The only things that made it worth it were my kids...and I still can't help but think that it'd would have made me happier if I'd had you around instead of Rufus. That probably makes me a horrible person; he did a lot for me. But I can't help it." She looked at him. "How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Get over Lucrecia. Stop loving her."

He swallowed; it was getting into touchy territory now. "It faded over time. I suppose the love is still there,Yuffie; I overheard your son tell your daughter that you never stop loving your first love. I suppose it's true. But...I just met someone better, is all."

"Then how come, Vincent?" She turned to him. "Why couldn't I stop loving you? Why couldn't I forget you? How come every time Rufus and I had sex, I was thinking about you? Why? I tried so hard to love him, Vince, and it just never happened."

He didn't have an answer, and he told her as much.

"I figured." She snorted. "Of all of the people to ask for love advice, Vincent Valentine is not the person to go to."

"Most definitely." He replied. She laughed and handed him a sandwich. He thanked her gravely.

"Look, Vince." She said, cleaning up after herself. "I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone. I missed you a lot, and not just because...of that. You were a good friend to have around. It was a bummer without you." She sighed, closed the fridge, and turned to him. "I don't want you to just disappear into obscurity again. And I know AVALANCHE doesn't want you to, either. And I'm fairly certain my son doesn't. Our son." She chuckled. "And obviously, my daughter and the cat are enamored with you." She pointed downward, where Sunny was doing his best to trip Vincent by curling around his ankles. "I'm just saying...don't drift away again. You have people who care about you."

Vincent's lips tightened. "I will try to keep that in mind."

She walked him to the front door. "Just a question...where did you go? I searched everywhere."

He chuckled. "Wutai."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course."

They didn't bid each other a good night, because they both knew they'd have nightmares."

"Until next time, Yuffie." He said. And then he was gone, disappearing into the night as he always had before.

She stared after him for a while before securely locking and closing the door.

She leaned against it. "Rufus...I wish you were here right now. I'm confused, and I need your help."

**- - - - - **

Vincent spied on his son a lot more than he ought to have. But he couldn't outright come and visit him.

At least, publicly. There would have been rumors. Kiyoshi did happen to look a little too much like his sire, and it was far too soon after his death for people to be talking about Rufus like that.

And of course, there was Yuffie to think about. She'd been divorced from Wutai for years, but her past could come back to haunt her and he didn't wish that on anyone.

So he watched his son play basketball from the windows of the gym that led to the outside.

It was a futile effort, of course, trying to act like a father. He wasn't a good father figure. But he wanted to see his son in action; Yuffie had mentioned at some point that he was an athlete.

He could see Yuffie and Nyoko in the bleachers, cheering Kiyoshi on. There was an empty space next to them; the space Rufus would normally have inhabited.

It had been a month since his death. Nyoko still went through bouts of uncontrollable sadness, but Yuffie and Kiyoshi had found ways to cope.

Vincent knew this because he often spent time on their rooftop. He wasn't spying, and it wasn't his intention to hear these things. He sat with his gun cocked.

After having finally come back into the world he went to Reeve and asked if the WRO needed any assistance. He had to have something to fill his days or he would become unbearably depressed and take the Cerberus to his temple. At least when he was eking out a living in Wutai he'd been busy most of the time.

Reeve had told him to look after Yuffie's family. "That's the best I can give you right now." He said, smiling grimly. "There have been more threats against them, despite Rufus' death. It's worrying." Vincent knew that if Reeve knew of the past between Yuffie and him he wouldn't have asked that, but it was a closely guarded secret.

Vincent sighed. Every time he watched them he thought that ...that could have been his family. If he hadn't been a fool, if he hadn't gone and left Yuffie in her hour of need...he could be the one sitting there in the bleachers, cheering his son on.

Then again, Vincent had no delusions about himself. He wasn't much of a cheerer, so the most that Kiyoshi could hope for out of his biological father was that he would come to the game and watch intently, and perhaps give him a word of congratulations after the fact. But he would have been there.

That night, after a loud congratulatory dinner because Kiyoshi had tossed the deciding basket that night, Yuffie was tucking her daughter in.

"Mama, is Mr. Valentine ever going to come over again?" She asked.

Yuffie laughed. "Maybe." She said. Vincent's eyes widened.

"I hope he does. He looks like 'Yoshi's gonna look when he grows up."

"Oh, God, I hope not." Kiyoshi moaned. "Red doesn't go with my complexion."

Vincent let out a light snort.

Yuffie stuck her head out the window. "Thought so. If you're gonna keep watch over us, why don't you just come inside?"

Vincent's eyes widened.

"Reeve told me you were on the lookout." She said, smiling. "Knowing you, that means rooftops and trees. Come on inside, you have a fan who desires your presence, and for once it's not me." She winked.

He looked down at her implacably, and she gestured.

Then Kiyoshi stuck his head out and looked up. "Oh, geez, _that's_ not creepy." He rolled his eyes.

"Who is it? Mama, who's outside?" Nyoko stuck her head out the window and her eyes widened. She blushed and ducked back inside.

Yuffie smirked. Vincent sighed.

She brought her head back in and she heard him moving across the roof, and then it stopped. Then the doorbell rang.

"I guess he took my advice about no more windows." Yuffie muttered. She glanced at her son, and he nodded, going to let Vincent in.

So Vincent was confronted with his younger mirror-image when the door opened.

"Kiyoshi." He acknowledged. His son stared at him for a few seconds before stepping aside and gesturing for him to enter.

Yuffie finished tucking Nyoko in – it was a Saturday but Nyoko only being 12 she had a bedtime even on the weekends – and came downstairs. Kiyoshi was watching TV in the living room, so she gestured Vincent up to her study. Rufus' old study.

He waited for her, but at the same time, he was watching out the window for intruders. Yuffie laughed when she came in with mugs in her hands – tea for him, hot cocoa for her. That she remembered the way he liked his tea struck a chord within him, for some reason.

"I suppose...it's a horrible thing to say." She whispered, sitting down. "That I've been almost happy since Rufus died. He was a good friend, and I'm sorry about that, but I feel like...this horrible weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I don't have to pretend anymore." She smiled at him. "I'm gonna rot in hell."

Vincent shrugged. "I'm sure I'll be joining you."

Yuffie laughed.

They enjoyed a companionable silence; Yuffie sipping her hot cocoa and watching him, and he, sipping his tea and watching outside.

"You're really serious about this whole guarding us thing, huh?" She asked.

"If there is a threat on your life, or that of your family's, I suppose I ought to be taking it seriously." He replied.

For some reason, he was not bothered with her staring at him, as he would have been by most people. Then Yuffie let out an almost childish giggle and he turned to face her.

"Nyoko has a crush on you." She said, smiling. "Like mother, like daughter, I suppose. It's kind of cute. 'Mr. Valentine' this and 'Mr. Valentine' that."

Vincent snorted and looked back outside. "I'm her brother's father. Doesn't this disturb you in the slightest?"

"Not really." Yuffie shrugged. "She's twelve. If she starts trying to seduce you when she turns 16, like I did, then I'll worry."

Vincent raised his eyebrow. "I don't think 'tried' is the operative word here, Yuffie."

She snickered.

Vincent wondered where this feeling of contentment came from. He wasn't with Yuffie, as he would like to be, and she had a family and appearances to keep. But just being able to sit here with her, and make jokes about the old times...and talk about her children, or rather, let her talk about them...it was good. He liked it.

The door opened and Kiyoshi walked in. "Nyoko's having another nightmare." He said. The little girl's cries echoed down the hallway.

Vincent followed Yuffie toward the girl's bedroom, but did not enter.

"Nee..." Yuffie said, softly. Vincent could see her touching the girl in her sleep. "Wake up, _oneechan_."

The girl was stuttering to her mother what her nightmare had been about. Something about monsters in her room.

Yuffie sighed and called out. "Vince?"

Vincent pushed the door open slightly. Yuffie raised her eyebrow and Vincent sighed.

"Will you check the closet and under the bed?" Yuffie said. Vincent drew Cerberus and did so, peeking into the furthest corners of the closet in a show of stealthiness to make the girl quiet down and sleep. He did the same under the bed.

"All clear." He said, wondering if he should pop a salute as well. Yuffie smirked at him.

"No monsters, Nee." Yuffie said, putting her hands to her daughter's cheeks. "And even if there are, Vincent is here. He can shoot a monster between the horns from a hundred yards away."

Vincent raised his eyebrow. He did that a lot around Yuffie.

She smiled. "Okay?"

Nyoko nodded, smiling slightly. "I'll be brave, then." She lay down and almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out.

They tiptoed out of her room, where Kiyoshi was waiting for them.

Yuffie headed back to her study, but Vincent was stuck there, for Kiyoshi was regarding him from between narrowed eyes.

"I don't know about you, Valentine." He said. "But if you can make my sister's nightmares go away, I think I can deal with you." He turned toward his room.

Vincent stared after his son for a few moments, and then followed Yuffie.

"Thanks." Yuffie said. She was smiling, but it was a sad sort of smile. "Ever since Rufus..."

"I know." Vincent said. He took up his post at the windowsill again. "I've been watching, remember?"

"I dunno, if I'd had Vincent Valentine inspect my closet for monsters, I don't think I'd have had nightmares ever again." Yuffie's smile was genuine this time. Vincent snorted.

"It means a lot that you regard my monster-slaughtering skills so highly, Yuffie." Vincent deadpanned.

Yuffie laughed. "You just cracked a joke. Like, a real one."

"It was bound to happen at some point." Vincent was still looking outside. His eyes narrowed. "Did Rufus build a panic room into this estate?"

"Yeah. Why?" Yuffie came to see what he was looking at. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just wondering. If there is an attack I want to know that you and the children will be alright."

Yuffie smiled.

They stayed in there for a bit longer, before Yuffie yawned. "I'm going to bed, Vince. You can stay in the guest bedroom if you want, or if not, lock up after you leave."

Vincent nodded to her and continued looking out the window. He had to protect Yuffie – like he hadn't so many years ago.

**- - - - - **

Another school year. It was getting cold now.

Vincent had become a staple of the family's existence. He stayed in the guest bedroom and occasionally prowled the roof. They still got death threats and therefore, he wasn't going anywhere.

He still was uneasy in his now-16-year-old son's presence, but the two of them accepted each other and left it at that. Nyoko had gotten over her crush on the man and instead seemed to view him as an exceptionally close uncle or something of the sort. He still looked for bogeymen when they appeared in her nightmares.

Vincent came back from the WRO headquarters one day and found them all acting rather suspiciously. He narrowed his eyes.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Nothing." Kiyoshi said, a little too quickly.

He went to his normal post in Yuffie's office after looking at them all searchingly.

"That was close." Yuffie said. "Kiyoshi, you're horrible at lying."

"Isn't that a good thing, mom?"

"Sometimes." She sighed. "Okay, guys, come on out and let's set up."

A stream of people poured out of various hiding places: behind the entertainment center, in the pantry, the coat closet, and behind a potted plant. It was the various members of AVALANCHE and their families, and they were there to help set up for Vincent's birthday.

Yuffie had done a lot of mental math. Shelke said Vincent hadn't started aging again until after the Omega incident, when Chaos was banished from his body – so physically, he was 43 years old. But he'd been alive for 69 years, having been 50 when they'd discovered him. But he hadn't experienced the 23 years he had spent in stasis in the coffin (he'd told her himself long ago that he'd been in an enforced coma up until the point they'd opened it during their chase for Sephiroth). She figured that years of experience were what mattered, so he was 46 years old.

A quick conference with Cid and Tifa, and they both agreed. So 46 it was.

Not that different from her 36 – almost 37. She shook that thought off and continued decorating his cake with a deft hand – Yuffie had always had a steady one and she'd always made her children's cakes from scratch. She'd picked up a few pointers over the years.

It was chocolate, which she knew he enjoyed, with dark red trimming, because, well, he was Vincent Valentine and and he and dark red went together like two dark red peas in a pod.

Tifa was quietly hanging a banner in the living room, that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VINCENT." Everyone had signed it; it was his birthday card, of sorts.

Within an hour it was ready, and Yuffie had prepared dinner for everyone.

"Vincent, dinner!" She called up the stairs. Everyone stepped away from the staircase, knowing that if he saw them there was a possibility he'd refuse to come down entirely.

He walked down and saw the banner, frowned, and then jumped as at least twenty people shouted happy birthday to him.

He looked at Yuffie, who had surely orchestrated this event. She looked so pleased with herself that he didn't bother telling her that he didn't normally celebrate his birthday.

There was a pile of presents on the living room table and he narrowed his eyes at them.

Yuffie laughed. "Don't worry, Vince. We won't subject you to the indignity of having to open birthday presents in front of everyone. Here, 'Yoshi, help me take these upstairs. Everyone, dig in."

Vincent let himself smile...just a little bit.

Yuffie's cooking had improved by leaps and bounds over the past 16 years, and everyone left replete. Vincent even professed to enjoy the birthday cake.

"And as a special birthday present, I assigned a WRO squad to watch over the house tonight." Reeve said, smiling. "A night off."

Vincent raised his eyebrow. "What would I need that for?"

Reeve shrugged. "I dunno. Read a book?"

After everyone had left there was a honk from the driveway. It was Nyoko's ride to a slumber party. She wished Vincent a happy birthday and gave him a hug, which startled him. He awkwardly returned it, and she apologized for having a slumber party to go to on his birthday.

"Quite alright." He assured her.

Then Kiyoshi's face turned to a grimace. "I'm sorry too. I have an away game and we're leaving tonight. We have to be in Gongaga by tomorrow evening and it's a long trip."

Vincent smiled at his son. "Not a problem."

Vincent looked at the banner after the children had left; everyone had signed it, even Cait Sith, Reeve's unstoppable cat robot. He quirked his eyebrow and a small smile came to his face.

"Did you enjoy your birthday party, Vince?" Yuffie asked, coming to his smile with a grin. He nodded.

"Thanks." He turned to her. "I turn 69 this year, however."

She shook her head. "Not by my calculations, buster!" She explained the math she, Tifa and Cid had gone through to figure out his "real" age and a smirk appeared on his lips.

"I suppose that if you went by the years I have actually experienced...yes. I am 46 this year."

She kissed him.

To say he wasn't expecting it was an understatement. It wasn't a full kiss, just a peck on the lips, but it stunned him into...well, silence, but that was his usual state anyway.

"Happy birthday, Vincent." She winked at him and sauntered into the kitchen to put away the leftovers.

He closed his eyes. His feelings for her hadn't diminished in the 15 years they'd been apart, and the past few months with her and her family – almost nine months now, ten since Rufus had died – hadn't helped things. She had changed, but at her core she was still essentially Yuffie, and he loved her.

She couldn't go around doing things like kissing him.

She was just putting away the remainders of his cake when he walked into the kitchen. She was wearing a black shirt and a pair of shorts that just barely covered her up – as usual. He was struck by how little her clothing choices had changed in the years. To be sure, she still had a body that could sport such attire, but...somehow, he'd always thought she'd stop wearing them after a certain point.

He didn't know how Rufus had done it. If he'd married Yuffie, he couldn't have stood the stares she garnered from such things.

Then again, Rufus had known that Yuffie did not love anyone else – including him. He winced to himself. Rufus had known that Yuffie was his as much as she could be. He supposed the man had been secure in it.

"What do you want to do tonight, Vince?" She asked, facing him. "You could go read up in your room, or watch TV, or play with the cat." The aforementioned cat was currently trying to trip him – he'd been delighted when Vincent moved in, and insisted on sleeping in the bed with him, a habit which more often than not annoyed the gunslinger.

Vincent shrugged. "I had planned on keeping watch. I suppose I will, as usual."

"Nuh uh!" Yuffie crossed her arms. "You have a night off, and I'm enforcing it. No watch." She smiled. "I have the might of the WRO on my side in this one, Vince. You are taking a night off or I am going to murder you."

He cocked his eyebrow.

She smiled and shooed him out of the kitchen.

This is how Vincent found himself in the living room, watching a movie Yuffie had put on. Vincent wasn't much of a television person – he watched the news and sometimes documentaries, but generally he was much more inclined to practice his shot or sleep. Yuffie was sitting on the couch next to him, trying to get Sunny to play with her. The cat had inserted himself between the two of them, and was resisting the string she dangled.

"Stop petting him, Vince. Then he'll stop being so smug and want to do something." Vincent rolled his eyes but complied.

The cat didn't budge. She sighed. Vincent went back to petting him.

After a while Sunny got up to peruse a munch from his food dish or the litter box, and Yuffie replaced him, sitting directly next to Vincent.

"Yuffie..."

"Vincent." Yuffie sighed. "It's your birthday. Freakin' relax for once." She leaned into him.

Alarm bells were going off in Vincent's head, and he stood up. "I think I'm going to go read." He said.

Yuffie glared at him. "What the hell is your problem?"

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you _think_ is my problem?"

"Oh, what, I give you affection and you turn into a douchebag?"

He sighed. "No, you are starting to act just like you did...last time. And look at what happened."

"Vincent, I am a whole lot older now. Do not treat me like a stupid kid, alright?" She frowned. "Don't lie here. Do you love me, or don't you?"

His heart plummeted. "Yuffie..."

"Answer me."

He closed his eyes. "Yuffie, I never stopped loving you."

He couldn't bring himself to look at her. He knew that she'd be looking at him with those eyes, the eyes that she'd given to their son, the ones that could melt his soul. And he couldn't handle it.

"Then, what exactly is the problem? I love you. You love me. I can't cuddle up to the man I love?"

"No!" He exclaimed, looking at her. She looked...shocked. Understandably. Vincent wasn't a very loud person when it came to noises. He rarely shouted. He calmed himself. "No, Yuffie. You can't. It wouldn't be..."

"Appropriate?" She demanded. She crossed her arms. "So I'm just supposed to be a widow my entire life, and be alone?"

"Well..." He said, lamely. He didn't have a real answer for her. "You could go on dates..."

"Right, I'll do that. When you give me my heart back and there's actually a fucking chance out there for me." She gestured toward the front door. "Also, in between my very hectic schedule as a mother and shut-in because of death threats. I'll totally do that."

She got closer to him, and he couldn't bring himself to back up. "Vincent, I love you. You know that. I can't stop it. Trust me, if I could, I would have a long time ago because honestly? Loving you sucks sometimes. You can be a real dick when you're trying to be altruistic." She sighed. "You walked away from me to try to keep me from suffering, and every day that I was away from you, I suffered. You failed."

Vincent stared at her, struck by the enormity of his actions. He had hurt her. It wasn't just her moping. No, she really had suffered, all of those years of pretending, all the while mourning inside. And now he was trying to protect her again, and he was going to hurt her.

He shifted, uncomfortably, and looked away. "Yuffie...I'm not a very good person with these sorts of things. Remember last time?" He looked back at her.

"Yeah, you're really fucking awkward. I got it." She frowned and then left, heading toward her room.

He watched her retreat, and then looked back at the couch, where Sunny had settled in their absence. He was staring at Vincent with his holographic eyes, burning red.

"Meh." He said, sniffing at him. Then he turned back toward the TV.

Even the _cat_ was disappointed in him.

He sighed.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie was in her room, and she was exercising.

It was the only thing, short of going out and having wild, unattached sex with someone, that she could think of to ease her frustration. The problem is that it wasn't actually doing anything and she was just as infuriated as she had been twenty minutes ago.

There was a knock at her door. She knew it was Vincent, because he was the only person left in the house. The cat had learned how to sort of knock, but he had furred paws; his weren't sharp knocks like the ones currently striking her door.

"Yuffie..." Vincent said.

"Come in!" She snapped. That she was in her sports bra and her short exercise shorts and nothing else didn't bother her; after all, Vincent had sired a child on her. He had seen it already.

She was kickboxing. Or rather, she was kicking the crap out of a punching bag. Vincent watched, mesmerized. He knew she was angry, but she still moved gracefully – even in a fight. Especially since the fight was an opponent that couldn't fight back. He momentarily felt sorry for the punching bag.

"You need something?" Yuffie asked, whirling on him. He stepped back, because she'd still been in attack mode and he was worried she was going to clobber him.

She stopped short. He had changed clothes; a plain black T-shirt and pants; no gloves, no boots, no hairband. It was startling, but it looked...hot. She groaned and turned back toward the punching bag, beating the everliving _shit _out of it.

"Where'd you get the clothes?" She asked.

"Birthday present from Cid. He got me about twenty of the shirts." The amusement was there in his voice and she wanted him to shut the hell up with that tone before she tried to suck it out of him.

They were silent for a few minutes before Vincent asked "What are you doing, exactly?"

"Kickboxing." She said.

"I can see that. Why?"

She glared at him over her shoulder, and continued her barrage on the bag. "I dunno, because I haven't gotten laid in ten months? Gotta work all of that frustration out somehow; I'm at my sexual prime here." She punched the bag resolutely.

"Raising your adrenaline levels isn't going to help that." Vincent pointed out.

"You know, I'm getting that. Really. But hopefully once I crash from my adrenaline high I'll be so tired I can't think about sex." She imagined Vincent's face on the bag and punched it.

Suddenly her arms were immobilized. "That would be a shame." Vincent said, pulling her away from the bag. "You're going to hurt yourself. Either that, or send the bag out the window."

She turned toward him, angry, when he silenced her with a kiss. An amazing, deep, full kiss that shut her up mid-insult.

Afterward she pushed away from him. "Who are you, and what have you done with Vincent?"

Vincent shrugged sheepishly. "Blame the cat."

Yuffie raised her eyebrows.

"He's very persuasive."

"Did you just make _another_ joke?" She snorted. "That's two in ten months, Vincent. Be careful, you might turn normal some day."

"I am, unfortunately, a lot more normal than most would suspect." Vincent said. "For instance, I stared at your rear end the entire time you were fighting."

Her eyes widened.

"...Your fault for wearing them so short."

"Three jokes. Wow, you're racking up quite a scorecard here." She sat on her bed, sighing explosively. "You confuse me so much, Vincent."

"I know. I'm sorry." He sat beside her. "Yuffie, I can't promise I'll even be a good friend. I don't know that I have what it takes to be a good lover – "

"No worries there." Yuffie blurted out, automatically. She blushed and buried her face in her hands.

He raised his eyebrow.

"Nevermind. Go on." She said, her voice muffled.

He coughed. "Anyway. I might wind up hurting you all over again, Yuffie."

She peered at him from between her fingers.

"...But I think I am willing to try."

She let out a noise that Vincent couldn't quite describe, and pounced on him.

He had slid his hand up her bra, while she made quick work of the fastening on his pants, when they heard a noise behind them.

"Meh." They turned; Sunny was watching them.

Vincent frowned. "I can't do this if the cat is in the room, Yuffie."

"Me neither." She got up and picked Sunny up, who protested such treatment with much squirming and meowling, before setting him in the hall and closing the door resolutely. "Fucking cat's a pervert, that's why he was trying to convince you to come up here and sex me up."

Vincent snorted.

**- - - - - **

Afterward, they lay in her bed panting, the cat making pitiful noises outside the door. She yawned and sighed.

"That has been 16 years in the making, Vincent, and if you _ever_ hold out on me again I am going to murder you."

He chuckled. "I assure you, there will not be any more holding out. We are going to have to find creative ways to get the kids out of the house, though."

"Why?" Yuffie asked. "They never come in here."

He coughed lightly. "Uh..." She looked quizzical. "You were a little loud..."

Her phone rang on the nightstand and, frowning, she answered it. "Hello?"

"Is this Yuffie Kisaragi?" A voice said.

"Ye-es..." She trailed off.

"Are you alright, ma'am?"

"Uh, yes...why wouldn't I be?" She asked. "Who is this?"

"This is Lieutenant Henderson, ma'am. I'm the squad leader stationed at your residence. We're across the street and we heard some screaming."

She bit her lip and tried to control her mirth. "Oh..yeah, sorry. I had the TV up really loud."

"Very well, then. Have a good evening, ma'am." The phone call ended.

Vincent was eying her with a twinkle in his eye.

"Okay, fine. Creative ways to get the kids out of the house – or get us out of the house. Kiyoshi is old enough to watch his sister for a night."

He nodded.

She leaned over and kissed him, then smiled that beautiful smile of hers. "Happy birthday, Vinnie."

_Author's Notes: Sunny my cat. No, seriously, he's my cat. I have a cat named Sunny and he is exactly as described here. I figured, hey, I've put most of my family in my fics; it's my cat's turn now. And that last bit, where he was trying to watch them have sex? Uh, yeah, my cat has DONE that before. -.-_

_Anyway, I finished this in time to put it up for Vincent's birthday, which also happens to be my mom's birthday. I dunno...not sure about how it came out. What do you think? I, personally, am not sure if I like it or not, but hey._

_Read? Review!_


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